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A recent trials partnership between Sonardyne International Ltd. and Oceaneering International, Inc. has resulted in the development of a Fly-By-Wire (FBW) system for ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) control in any water depth, allowing the vehicle to hold station indefinitely and navigate to real-world coordinates automatically.

A Sonardyne SPRINT system was installed on one of Oceaneering’s Maxximum ROVs and integrated with a Sonardyne Ranger 2 Ultra Short Baseline (USBL) system for acoustic aiding of the Inertial Navigation System (INS). The trials took place in the Gulf of Mexico in water depths of 3,057 metres (10,030 ft) and results showed that continuous hovering of the ROV in mid-water beyond Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) range was possible, as well as automatic navigation to waypoints.

The majority of ROV navigation systems utilize an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) and DVL to provide a relative or dead reckoned position. These systems are subject to time and distance based position errors and only operate close to the seabed, meaning mid-water operations are conducted via manual control so real world or relative coordinates cannot be easily used by the ROV pilot. To address these limitations, Sonardyne and Oceaneering have developed a novel navigation and control system solution utilising the dual output of INS and AHRS data from SPRINT to provide ROV Dynamic Positioning (DP) in all water depths with capabilities beyond current state-of-the-art, without affecting reliability or ease of use.

The system has two methods of ROV control: ‘Navigation’ and ‘Passthru’. In ‘Navigation’ mode, the ROV control system uses INS positioning optimised for DP with real-world position, velocity and attitude data at high output rates. This speeds up ROV operations by improving vehicle control precision, automating station keeping and delivering FBW capability. ‘Navigation’ mode is available continuously in all water depths when USBL data is available. If the INS solution should become degraded or is unavailable, the system automatically reverts to ‘Passthru’ mode. ‘Passthru’ mode is a dead reckoned solution using self contained AHRS data that is inherently robust and reliable when combined with DVL data.

The results of the trial showed that continuous hovering of the ROV in mid-water beyond DVL range was possible, as well as automatic navigation to waypoints. When the ROV was in DVL range of the seabed the ‘Navigation’ mode performed equally as well as the ‘Passthru’ mode but with the added benefit of real-world referenced positioning data from the USBL system. The faster update rate (20 Hz, compared to the 5 Hz rate of the DVL) has the potential to refine vehicle control precision.

Mark Philip, ROV Technology Manager at Oceaneering stated that, “Autonomous flight control is an increasingly important feature for ROVs. Oceaneering’s Fly-By-Wire system has greatly enhanced the efficiency of the service we provide to our customers since its introduction several years ago. The integration of the SPRINT inertial navigation system further enhances this capability by providing hands-free hovering and navigation throughout the entire water column. We place high importance on ease of operation and redundancy and are confident that our collaboration with Sonardyne satisfies these requirements.”

Oceaneering International, Inc. today reported record second quarter earnings for the period ended June 30, 2012. On revenue of $673 million, Oceaneering generated net income of $72.6 million, or $0.67 per share. During the corresponding period in 2011, Oceaneering reported revenue of $546 million and net income of $56.7 million, or $0.52 per share.

Oceaneering International, Inc. announced that it has secured a three-year Field Support Vessel Services contract from BP p.l.c. Oceaneering will provide project management, engineering, and vessel services offshore Angola on Blocks 18 and 31, commencing February 1, 2012. The contract provides for two option periods of one year each, exercisable by BP.

Two chartered vessels, the Ocean Intervention III and the Bourbon Oceanteam 101, will be supplied under the contract. Each vessel will be outfitted with two Oceaneering work class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) capable of working in 3,000 meters of water. Oceaneering will mobilize its chartered vessel, the Ocean Intervention III, from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to Angola commencing in early January 2012. The contract scope of work includes light subsea construction, inspection, maintenance, and repair services on existing and future subsea infrastructure. The contract has a provision for Oceaneering to provide, at BP’s option, a third vessel after the commencement date.

M. Kevin McEvoy, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are pleased to have secured this contract with BP, one of our largest customers. This project builds on our well-established deepwater vessel project capabilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and represents a significant geographic expansion with considerable backlog for our Subsea Projects business. It further reinforces our long-term commitment to Angola, which is a growing market for Oceaneering’s services and products.

Oceaneering International, Inc. today reported third quarter earnings for the period ended September 30, 2011. On revenue of $602 million, Oceaneering generated net income of $78.6 million, or $0.72 per share.

These results include an $18.3 million pre-tax gain, $11.9 million after tax using an incremental tax rate of 35%, on the previously announced sale of the Ocean Legend, a mobile offshore production system. Also, the third quarter results included a lower provision of income taxes due to recognition of $4.9 million of tax benefits principally related to prior years.

Oceaneering reported revenue of $516 million and net income of $59.2 million, or $0.54 per share, for the third quarter of 2010. For the second quarter of 2011, Oceaneering reported revenue of $546 million and net income of $56.7 million, or $0.52 per share.

Quarterly earnings were also higher year over year on the strength of record quarterly operating income from Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Subsea Products. Sequentially, Oceaneering’s quarterly EPS increase was attributable to improved operating income from four of its five business segments: ROV, Subsea Products, Subsea Projects and Advanced Technologies.

M. Kevin McEvoy, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are very pleased with our record EPS for the quarter, particularly in light of regulatory-constrained activity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Our overall operations performed within expectations and we remain on track to achieve record EPS for the year.

“Compared to the second quarter of 2011, ROV operating income increased on the strength of higher international demand to provide drill support and vessel-based services. Our quarterly ROV days on hire increased to an all-time high of over 19,000 days. Subsea Products operating income rose on profit increases from most of our product lines, led by increased sales of valves and Installation and Workover Control System services. Subsea Products backlog at quarter-end was $403 million, comparable to our June 30 backlog of $405 million and up from $308 million one year ago.

“Sequentially, Subsea Projects operating income was higher due to the gain on the sale of the Ocean Legend and a slight seasonal increase in demand for our diving services. Advanced Technologies operating income improved on higher demand from the U.S. Navy to perform engineering services and submarine repair work.

“We are adjusting our 2011 EPS guidance range to $2.11 to $2.15, from $1.90 to $1.98, to reflect our third quarter results and our EPS outlook for the fourth quarter of $0.48 to $0.52, based on an expected quarterly tax rate of 31.5%. We continue to anticipate that our ROV and Subsea Products segments will achieve record operating income in 2011.

“We are initiating 2012 EPS guidance with a range of $2.35 to $2.55, as we expect another record earnings year. For our services and products, we anticipate continued international demand growth and a moderate rebound in overall activity in the GOM. The major determinant of our guidance range spread is the amount of operating income growth we generate from our Subsea Projects business.

“Compared to 2011, we anticipate all of our segments will have higher operating income results in 2012; ROV on greater service demand off West Africa and in the GOM and Subsea Products on the strength of higher tooling sales and increased throughput at our umbilical plants. For Subsea Projects, we foresee a gradual recovery in the GOM during 2012 and a substantial increase in revenue and operating income as a result of an anticipated international expansion of our deepwater vessel project capabilities.

“Looking beyond 2012, our belief that the oil and gas industry will continue to invest in deepwater projects remains unchanged. Deepwater remains one of the best frontiers for adding large hydrocarbon reserves with high production flow rates at relatively low finding and development costs. With our existing assets, we are well positioned to supply a wide range of the services and products required to support safe deepwater efforts of our customers.”

Baker Hughes Incorporated has posted Weekly Rig Count reports to its Investor Relations website according to which the U.S. offshore rig count is up from last week. BHI Rig Count: U.S. -2 to 874 rigs U.S. Rig Count is down 2 rigs from last week to 874, with oil rigs up 5 to 664, gas […]

Exxon Mobil Corporation, an American oil and gas corporation, Friday announced estimated second quarter 2015 earnings of $4.2 billion, compared with $8.8 billion in the same period a year earlier. The U.S. Upstream operations recorded a loss of $47 million, down $1.2 billion from the second quarter of 2014. Non-U.S. Upstream earnings were $2.1 billion, […]

Chevron Corporation, an American multinational energy corporation, Friday reported earnings of $571 million for the second quarter 2015, compared with earnings of $5.7 billion in the same period last year. Included in the quarter were impairments of $1.96 billion and other charges of approximately $670 million relating to project suspensions and adverse tax […]

Afren, an international independent oil exploration and production company, has filed for administration after failing to get support for its refinancing efforts. According to Afren, the recently completed operational review has led the company to expect materially lower near-term production from its assets as compared to the production level assumed in the […]

Awilco Drilling PLC, a UK-based drilling contractor, and Hess Limited have mutually agreed to release the WilHunter semi-submersible rig ahead of the December 1, 2015 contract date as a consequence of the early completion of the decommissioning program. Awilco has said that there will be no negative financial repercussions to either party as a result of this […]

The Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive) (Safety Case etc.) Regulations 2015 (SCR 2015) came into force on July 19, 2015. They are the UK’s response to the EU’s Offshore Directive which was adopted in June 2013. Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published a new guide to help offshore oil and gas operators to adhere […]

British energy company BG Group, soon to be taken over by Shell in a $70 billion deal, has seen its profit rise in the second quarter of 2015. Namely, BG Group reported that its total earnings for the second quarter of 2015 were $2 225 million compared to $1 367 million in the second quarter […]

The World Bank Thursday approved a $700 million investment in guarantees for Ghana’s Sankofa gas project, located in the Cape Three Points block, 60km offshore Ghana. According to the Washington-based international organization World Bank, Sankofa is a transformational project that will help develop new sources of clean and affordable natural gas for domesti […]

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources approved Thursday the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, and Offshore Production and National Security Act (OPENS), which would ensure Alaska and other coastal states receive a fair share of the revenue from oil and gas activity off their shores. The bill would also lift the ban on […]

Subsea World News has put together a recap of the most interesting articles from the previous week (July 27– August 02). DOF Subsea, a subsidiary of DOF ASA, has reached an agreement with Subsea 7... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Board of Siem Offshore has decided to appoint Idar Hillersøy as new CEO of the company with effect from August 01. Idar Hillersøy has since April 01, 2015 been responsible for the OSV segment of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Siemens Energy Management and VBMS (UK) Ltd have been selected by the proposed Navitus Bay wind park as the preferred electrical transmission system supplier. The two companies will come together to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Stena Line considers the European Commission’s tacit approval of public financing of the Fehmarn Belt fixed rail-road link between Denmark and Germany discriminatory and not in line with EU State aid... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tidal Lagoon Power (TLP) has appointed JBA Consulting to undertake flood risk assessment work in relation to their Tidal Lagoon Cardiff project. The Severn Estuary is the focus of Tidal Lagoon... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Jee Ltd has announced a number of key internal promotions to strengthen its capabilities and champion the delivery of projects. The new structure, headed up by Jonathan McGregor, Head of engineering... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will begin two months of dives using unmanned remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, to explore marine protected areas in the central Pacific Ocean. Starting on Aug. 1,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

JOIDES Resolution research vessel is preparing to take a group of international scientists on a two-month ocean expedition up the coast of Western Australia to drill deep into the seabed, on a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

America’s first Bachelor of Science in Maritime Technology, offered by Northwestern Michigan College, is to get a special Falcon ROV, Saab Seaeye informed. In what the college says is a pioneering... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Statoil’s active leases in the Gulf of Mexico

This week the eminent New York Times in-house philosopher David Brooks laments that he is “sometimes grumpier when [he] stay[s] at a nice hotel,” as compared with a “budget hotel” where even “the waffle maker in the breakfast area is a treat.” Brooks has said many contentious things in his tenure with the Times, but the insinuation that a waffle maker is eve […]

A recent feature in The New York Times highlights what it describes as the "Dorms You'll Never See on the Campus Tour." These residence halls stand in stark contrast to many of the opulent living situations colleges now use to lure students on campus. "Built in the middle of the last century or even earlier, they have survived to shock an […]

When you're commuting home, you may find yourself with free time and nothing to do but play Candy Crush over and over again. Why not teach yourself how to code instead? That's the idea behind Lrn, a new iOS app that lets you learn the basics of coding in JavaScript — even without an internet connection. Lrn, which just launched Tuesday, condenses t […]

Handy’s third birthday party last month was everything you’d expect from a startup soiree. Twenty- and thirtysomethings crowded the dimly lit bar at Pergola, a Mediterranean spot in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, munching on skewers of free-range chicken and a seemingly endless cascade of spicy meatballs with tzatziki sauce, as a hoodie-clad co-founder boast […]

For a 56th birthday present to himself, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina) took perhaps the most aggressive step yet against the Republican Party's establishment. It marked perhaps the most bombastic challenge to Boehner's leadership, and another point at which long-simmering tensions within the Republican caucus have exploded out into the open. […]

The cost of building a single parking stall in a Seattle residential garage is an estimated $20,000 and $50,000, according to The Stranger. That cost gets passed on to the renters, who can pay $500 more a month in low‐rise apartments, a 2012 Portland, Oregon study found. The GazeBox likely won’t solve these problems, but it might offer an interesting alterna […]

London (AFP) - Tributes poured in Sunday for Cilla Black, the 1960s pop star championed by The Beatles who became one of Britain's best-loved television presenters, following her death at the age of 72.Black's publicist confirmed her death in a brief statement, and media reports citing local police said she passed away at her home in Estepona near […]

Lately, it seems that every new study about social mobility further corrodes the story Americans tell themselves about meritocracy; each one provides more evidence that comfortable lives are reserved for the winners of what sociologists call the birth lottery. But, recently, there have been suggestions that the birth lottery's outcomes can be manipulate […]

Now that the typical school year is ending, many high school seniors are excited to be heading off to college — but they've still got a few more excruciating weeks left hanging out in their hometowns before school starts.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This haunting film called 'Room' has Oscar written all over it […]

Early last month in "Crowdsourcing Police Brutality", we highlighted an ongoing project at The Guardian which is attempting to tally the number of people killed by police in the US during 2015. Use of deadly force by authorities in America has become a hot button issue after several high profile cases involving the death of unarmed black suspects c […]

Submitted by Lee Adler via WallStreetExaminer.com, The headline, fictional, seasonally adjusted (SA) number of initial unemployment claims for last week came in at 267,000. The Wall Street economist crowd consensus guess close to the mark this week, at 272,000. We focus on the trend of the actual data, instead of the seasonally manipulated headline number ex […]

August 2 is the day when Russia celebrates its Airborne Forces, only this year something went very wrong, and it was all caught on tape. As Reuters report, one pilot died and another was injured when a helicopter crashed at an airshow in the Russian region of Ryazan on Sunday. During aerobatics at the event some 200 km (124 miles) south-east of Moscow, an Mi […]

It was almost exactly two years ago, when during China's long-forgotten attempt to actively deleverage its economy (remember that? good times...) we commented on the country's s first attempt to estimate what its local government debt is since June 2011. This is what we said in July 2013: "China is preparing to admit that the level of problem […]

Excerpted from Third Point LLC's letter to investors, Lately, a varied chorus of powerful union bosses, politicians and candidates, an asset management company executive, and a few ivory tower types have asserted that activism is short term in nature, engaged in by “hit and run” investors who care only about making a quick buck while leaving a company […]

Meet 31-year-old Dan Price. Dan is the CEO of Seattle-based credit card payments processing firm Gravity Payments, and three months ago, he did a funny thing. After talking with a friend who confessed to having difficulties making student loan payments and rent each month on an annual salary of $40,000, Dan decided to set a $70,000 per year pay floor at Gra […]

Submitted by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com, Anyone with a nose for markets will tell you that the Chinese government's attempt to rescue the country's stock markets from collapse is far from succeeding. Bubbles collapse, period; and government interventions don't stop them. Furthermore, we are beginning to see a crack widen in the foundat […]

Submitted by Mac Slavo of SHTFplan.com Are We Being Forced Into a “Second American Civil War”… If So, Who Will Win? A culture war has been stirred up. Divisions are along predictable lines: racism, police abuse, controversial social issues, and plenty of left vs. right, demographics and regional baggage to clash over as well. And by all accounts, differences […]

Part 4: The State Strikes Back The counterfeiting business, like any other, has fundamental economic constraints. At one end, operators must produce a product. That, in turn requires very specialized equipment and supplies, all of which cost money. The better the product is to be, the more it will cost to produce. In the case of the bills sitting in front of […]

It takes more than raw power to run a successful state; people must believe that laying their wealth at your feet is a righteous thing to do. This week, we'll look at a big part of how this idea came to Europe. Continued from last week... THE RE-CONQUEST The Church was not, however, willing to forgo military power. They knew its importance and wished to […]

Today's excerpt is by Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor. The Sandra Bland arrest video he discusses will – or at least should – outrage anyone who respects justice and decency. The way the officer repeatedly screams, "I'm giving you a lawful order" suggests he defines "lawful" as "subservient to me. […]

Modern technology makes life easier, but it can also change our perception in potentially dangerous ways. For instance, the Internet lets us see news and political commentary from many different perspectives. Intuitively, this might seem positive. We can easily examine various viewpoints and make informed decisions. What really happens, though, is that peopl […]

Due to Obamacare, my health plan has become something other than insurance. It is now, for the most part, nothing other than a wealth transfer scheme to benefit the politically connected over others. In order to identify the difference between health insurance and government-mandated health care coverage, we can look to Human Action, in which Ludwig von Mise […]